Question about Sukiyaki
 

I had some at a sushi restaurant (and yes, Japanese people do actually run it). I loved it!! I'm just wondering, what's the traditional way of serving it and eating it? Does it come in a single serving or is it usually shared?

I've never eaten it at a restaurant, I've only been served it in a Japanese home. It's always been shared when I've had it - as in there'd be a big pot of it in the middle of the table, and then you'd take out whatever you wanted and put it into your own, smaller bowl. We would usually crack raw eggs into the smaller bowl and then put the meat and other ingredients in the egg before eating it. I always wondered whether that was actually safe, but I didn't want to trouble my host family with it - I figure if they can eat it, I can eat it too.

It's shared from the big pot. I cannot imagine anyone going to a sukiyaki restaurant all by himself. Not that it's illegal, but you just won't see that here in Japan.

Unlike outside of Japan, sushi places in Japan usually only serve sushi and fish-related dishes. Serving sukiyaki at a sushi restaurant would be out of the question. The real sushi lovers here would hate the robust smell of sukiyaki while eating sushi because it would surely destroy the subtle flavor and the even subtler scent of sushi. Better sushi bars are kept as scent-less as possible so they don't allow smoking (except in private rooms).

In Japan, better sukiyaki restaurants usually serve only sukiyaki and shabushabu. You will have a waitress prepare the sukiyaki right at the table for you. They serve the beef first, veggies next, and at the end they put either noodles or rice and eggs into the tasty remaining stock. Many people love the last part. Sukiyaki is never cooked in the kitchen, but always right in front of your eyes. Each table has a built-in burner on it.

Thank yo, Nagoyankee. I have never liked American Japanese restaurants that combine sushi with heartier menus. I learned early on that if the place has a hibachi, its not the best for sushi. But even that is more bearable than the person who walks up to the sushi bar in perfume you could smell from across the room - a definite hazard in Dallas.

lolz
in japan~ they have loads of 'specialised' restaurants nee?
and like...
for a sushi-ya too suddenly offer say.... shabu shabu or sukiyaki or takoyaki (x] )
would be like openly admitting that their sushi isn't good enough too make good enough a business >.>""...
basically saying that "I here offer you a larger variety of dishes because my Sushi is of a lesser quality than the local competition."
>.>''
or something too that effect x]

I know of a Hibachi place. One section of it, separate from the Hibachi stuff, has a sushi bar. So you have the choice of going to the s ushi bar to eat the sushi, or going to the other section, to have a Hibachi-style meal.